Australian South Sea Islanders are meeting in the Queensland town of Mackay to work on ways to improve Federal Government recognition of their community.

The WANTOK Australian South Sea Islanders National Forum, a gathering of descendents of Melanesian labourers brought to Australia in the 1800s, is discussing the structure of a new national body to lobby the government on behalf of South Sea Islanders.

They are continuing discussions on a push to be included as a separate ethnic group in Australia's 2016 national census.

President of the interim national body for Australian South Sea Islanders, Emelda Davis, says it's important the community is seen as distinct from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, with whom they're sometimes grouped.

"We've got various types of identity that people use in terms of how they identify as Australian South Sea Islanders," Ms Davis said.

"Some are specifically South Sea Islanders, some like to be called Kanak, and there's a number of other terms that are used. So it's just getting a general agreeance on what term will be used on the census form."

Ms Davis says the national forum is aiming to get consensus on what the term should be.

Ms Davis also says South Sea Islanders need to take a "bureaucratic stance" on the way they lobby the Commonwealth for funding of programs within their community.

"The need for a formal structure (for the community) is that the Government cannot speak to individual organisations. We need to have a united voice - one voice, one mob. That will assist with understanding that all the organisations across Australia -- because we're nationwide now, Australian South Sea Islanders are in every part of the country -- they need to have a united voice and something that's agreed on as to how we move forward," Ms Davis said.

"Australian South Sea Islanders are as disadvantaged in all areas as our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities."

Australia's South Sea Islander community was recognised as "a distinct ethnic group" in Australia by the Commonwealth Government in 1994. At the time, the Government acknowledged the history of the community, including the indentured labour system, and the severe disadvantage of the descendants of those slave labourers.

Ms Davis says little has been done in the 20 years since.

"Nothing has truly been followed through. There aren't meaningful programs and services for our elders, education, [economic] development, health issues. We're still behind the eight ball," she said.